A while ago, on the Yahoo! Sandvox group, we asked Sandvox users to submit their stories of how they have used Sandvox successfully to get themselves on the Web. We were overwhelmed with responses. We've sent out a few of these to our Email Alert List, so these might look familiar if you have been receiving that mailing, but we will mix in some web-only stories as well in future installments.
Chuck Dresel is a middle school teacher at Redwood Middle School in Napa, California. Using Sandvox and the Cathedral design to create a website for his Social Studies 7 class means that Mr. Dresel can spend more time on student work and less time maintaining the site. He wrote:
I'm a middle school teacher who doesn't have a lot of time to maintain a quality website for my class/students. Sandvox is the perfect tool for me because it allows me to quickly and easily provide my students with all the information they need to stay successful in my class and it really looks great. I use the blog collection to post and manage homework assignments; most documents that students need for my class are available from various download collections; students are able to access their current grades which are posted on the same server via ftp and then linked back to the Sandvox site; students can earn extra credit by completing several web-based geolab assignments that incorporate QuickTime video and audio files; and of course it is very easy to contact me using the contact form pagelet. Sandvox also makes it really easy to incorporate some really cool add-ons like Google custom search. Thanks again for making a great product.
Michael Schein describes himself as a poet and attorney, but he might add website designer to that list! Based in Seattle, Washington, Mr. Schein used Sandvox and the Gnarled design to create a website that showcases his writing (including his latest novel, Just Deceits), announces readings and personal appearances, and lets his readers share their feedback with him.